Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Don't show me this message again

Luto carens et latere

Introduction

According to the thirteenth-century chronicler William of Armorica, ‘the Lord has the power to free the Holy Land from the hands of the infidels since he had the power to lift up the sons of Israel from the stones’. This was a fundamental conviction of crusading, chroniclers sometimes comparing the Christian armies on the move to the Israelites journeying from Egypt and passing over the Red Sea. This three-voice conductus is written in a dance form, closely akin to the musico-poetic forms of the Old French rondets de carole and perhaps an allusion to the dance of Miriam and her sisters after the Red Sea crossing in Exodus 15:20: ‘And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.’ Like William of Armorica, the poet alludes to the enforced manual labour of the Israelites in captivity with ‘mud and brick’.

Free from mud and brick [Exodus 5:7-19] the Hebrew freely passes over, a new man marked with a new sign. On dry foot, with a pure mind, the Hebrew freely crosses, cleansed by the water of baptism. [Exodus 14]

As for dues of his wretched lot, the Hebrew freely passes over [them], the prison of sin being closed. On dry foot …

As he watches the sea yield the Hebrew freely passes over, drowning those who follow blindly. On dry foot …

The lamb slain in the evening – [Exodus 12:6] the Hebrew freely passes over – releases from the burden of sin. On dry foot …